Of Ears and Long Held Secrets
by ItsOnMars
Summary: Ron had always liked George the most out of the twins; it wasn't that he hated Fred, because he certainly didn't.  He just liked George more.  Winner of the "Sibling Rivalry Competition".


**OOO**

Ron had always liked George the most out of the twins; it wasn't that he hated Fred, because he certainly didn't. He just liked George more. Of course, he hadn't told anyone, but he was surprised no one figured it out. Fred, after all, was always the one who goaded Ron to fall for their pranks and never apologized, not even when Ron ended up vomiting for days because of them. Of course, George had his fair share of funny and cruel pranks, but Fred was the one who was consumed by the pranks, consumed by the jokes and who really was the person people thought of when they heard the words "Weasley twins". Fred was lively, witty, funny; his whole life revolved around the simple pranks that grew more and more complicated the older he got. Eventually, once Ron reached his sixth year, it was obvious that Fred cared about his joke shop almost as much as he cared about his family. George loved the joke shop too, and he was devoted to the pranks as well; however, he never really loved it _as_ much as Fred, he never played pranks _as_ well as Fred, and he never was loved and hated _as_ much as Fred. Fred was the brother Ron wished he was, and George was the brother Ron could see himself being. Because in the end, Fred was the famous one, was the image behind the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. And in the end, George was… well, George was Fred without the flair. Fred did well in class because he was a natural at magic. George did well in class because he didn't want his mother to send him a Howler. When girls approached the two twins, Fred always ended up getting the more attractive one. It was always "Fred and George", not "George and Fred". Alphabetical reasons aside, it all boiled down to the fact that Fred would come first, whether he knew it or not. And Fred most certainly did not know.

That was why Ron liked George the most, and why he identified himself with George- because Ron wouldn't be known as Ron Weasley. He would be known as "the Weasley twins' little brother", or "the boy you had to get past if you wanted to date Ginny Weasley", or even just "another one of those Weasley boys". George would never be known as George Weasley, though. He would be "Fred's twin", or "one of the Weasley twins", or sometimes just "the other half of the Weasley Wizard Wheezes". Ron liked to think that maybe, just maybe, George understood why Ron was so eager to seek his independence.

Ron was careful not to let anyone know of his thoughts, of course. He never spoke of it to his family, not even to Harry or Hermione, who were close enough with him to be called family. It wasn't that he thought they wouldn't understand, even though that played a part in it. No, the reason he never let it slip was because sooner or later Fred would find out, and then he would either be ruder to Ron, or nicer to him, or everything would just be awkward and soon enough it would become unbearable. And then there was George; if George found out he would immediately start avoiding Ron, because it was an unspoken rule between the boys and men in the Weasley family that feelings were meant to be ignored, not thought about or acknowledged, and most definitely not talked about.

Everything was different though, when George came home with blood pouring out of where his ear used to be. Everyone was worried and devastated, of course, but after thinking about it, most people were just glad that George hadn't been killed. There were more pressing issues to attend to, and one ear lost wasn't the end of the world. But Ron couldn't help himself from staring for the next few weeks. Not at the whole in George's head, nor at his one remaining ear. No, Ron couldn't stop himself from staring at Fred; because it just wasn't fair, it wasn't, because now George had gone and gotten injured, and Fred was fine and had both of his ears, both in perfect condition. Fred had been devastated when he saw George's injury, but the fact of the matter was that _he himself had remained unscathed_, while George lay there bleeding. As the days went by, George would slowly heal, but Fred wouldn't change, because he hadn't been the one to get hurt. Why was it that Fred had to be the healthy one, anyway? Most people didn't care which twin got injured; after all, they were practically the same, weren't they? If Fred had gotten injured, the reaction wouldn't have been all too different. No, if anything, there would have been slightly more concern. After all, Fred represented both himself and his twin, and getting Fred injured would have been the same as if both Fred and George had been injured. And that was why Ron found himself staring at Fred for that period of time. Because he may not have known it, but there were people thinking, most likely unconsciously, "Thank Merlin it wasn't Fred". And that just wasn't fair.

Fred had returned some of Ron's stares with his own confused looks at the beginning. Ron had expected that, because he never bothered to tell Fred what was bothering him. What Ron didn't expect was for Fred's looks of confusion to turn to looks of understanding, and of apology. After a week of those strange understanding glances, Ron realized what they meant. Fred knew. He had finally found out why Ron was always quicker to believe George's claims of innocence rather than Fred's, why Ron always chose George for his team rather than Fred during Quidditch games at the Burrow, and most of all why Ron kept staring at him when he thought no one was looking. Fred had somehow figured out that he was the less liked brother, and it seemed that he had figured out why as well. Fred's looks showed an apology, and Ron knew exactly what Fred was apologizing for. Fred hadn't wanted George to get injured, of course; but beyond that, Fred would have willingly taken George's place if it meant that his brother would remain unscathed. And Fred had finally understood what the consequences of that replacement would have been. He understood that more people would have cared, and that he would once again "outshine" his twin. No matter how disturbing the game would have been, Fred still would have won. And Fred knew how much it affected Ron to know that the only way George could win a round of the game was by getting his ear cursed off. The game, that is, that was being played by Fred and George and watched by Ron. A game that had both of its participants unaware that they were playing in any game at all.

Fred never made any move to speak to Ron about this strange and mutual understanding, although he sometimes looked like he was about to. Ron chose to leave the room at those moments; it would be too strange to talk about his feelings with Fred, and would be bound to change their relationship forever. Ron already felt slightly uncomfortable around Fred, and with the war and the deaths and the overall stress and feeling of doom and misery, Ron didn't want to spend his spare time sharing feelings over a cup of tea.

The Battle of Hogwarts came much too soon, much too slowly. Ron felt like he was completely unprepared, yet couldn't help but sigh in relief when he realized that after this one day, it would all be over. No more heart stopping moments when he listened to the radio, desperately hoping that the next name in the list of causalities was not a familiar one. No more camping in the woods for months, wondering when it would all end. Their lives had been leading up to this day, and Ron wasn't going to let it pass without putting his whole soul and effort into the fight.

All of his will power went away, though, when he heard a piercing cry in his mother's voice, and saw a redheaded twin lying on the ground. Ron realized he was running forward, realizing that the tears running down his face and dropping on the blood-covered ground were his own, realized that the wordless screams were his own. Only one thought coursed through his mind, a thought that he would be ashamed of later, when he actually had time to think and to reflect on the horror that had just happened. _No, no, no, not George, please, please, __**let it be Fred**_. And then he knelt by the body and saw two ears firmly placed on each side of the twin's head, and his heart leapt with happiness right before it broke into two. Because, for Merlin's sakes, the boy- no, man- no, _boy,_ _because he had been too young to die_, still had a smile frozen on his face. Because although Fred might be smiling even in death, Ron knew that he wouldn't be able to smile ever again, because if Fred was dead, so was half of George. Because losing Fred meant that he had lost George, and if the twins were lost, how would Ron ever laugh again? How was he supposed to recover from this, and how was he supposed to really live again? Ronald Weasley was "the Weasley twins' little brother", and if the Weasley twins were gone, where was he?

**OOO**

**Thanks for reading! Please review, if you can. I would appreciate any comments, except for flames. I would much rather get constructive criticism, because, strangely enough, flames kind of annoy me. Strange, isn't it?**

**This was written for the "Sibling Rivalry Competition", for the pairing Ron and Fred (although this had quite a bit of George as well). **

**On a not-so-side note, I'd like to say that this is my first fic of this type, and Ron isn't really my favorite character, and I haven't written for him before. So I hope that explains why he's not exactly very… Ron-like, I suppose, and slightly OOC…**

**Anyway, enough rambling on my part. I hope you enjoyed this one-shot, and once again, please review!**

**Sincerely,**

_**ItsOnMars **_**:)**

**New Author's Notes: ****Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews! I'd also like to say that this ended up being one of the two winners of the "Sibling Rivalry" Competition, so I guess you could say it did better than I thought it would!**

**Sincerely,**

**Again,**

**ItsOnMars :)**


End file.
